CBS: Daily Kos Radical Leftist is Merely a 'Wall Street Protester'

CBS's Bigad Shaban failed to disclose the far-left politics of an "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrator on Monday's Early Show. Jesse LaGreca, a Daily Kos contributor who wrote in August that "Hurricane Irene is like having Christmas early" for Republicans, was identified on-screen as simply a "Wall Street protester." Shaban also barely devoted any time to critics of the nascent movement.

Anchor Erica Hill trumpeted in her teaser for the correspondent's report that "the 'Occupy Wall Street movement' gains steam, as protests pop up in 25 cities across the country, calling for an end to corporate greed." Hill then turned to Shaban, who was reporting live from the "protest that started it all down in Manhattan's financial district." He front-loaded his report with three sound bites from participants in the New York City protest, all of whom spouted their left-leaning slogans.

The journalist then highlighted how "the marchers come from all walks of life, young and old, male and female, hoping their lawmakers are listening, including 38-year-old Jesse LaGreca." Despite playing a clip from LaGreca, neither Shaban himself nor the chyron noted his DailyKos affiliation, something ABC host Christiane Amanpour did when he appeared on Sunday's This Week.

..[T]he [C]onstitution...is that peace [sic] of paper Conservative fascists wave at you when they are taking your Democracy away from you...

Words like tyranny, spending, taxes, regulation, socialism and many others have been rendered meaningless over decades of conservative fascist propaganda in an effort to make the basic use and methods of democracy seem evil...

The idea of small government and limited government is an attack on Democracy...

Shaban later played three more sound bites from supporters of "Occupy Wall Street," as opposed to two from critics Herman Cain and investor Jason Weisberg, giving the supporters a seven-to-two advantage during his report. Not once did he give any of the demonstrators an ideological label. The correspondent only made a vague hint near the end of the segment, which was prompted by a question from Hill:

HILL: ...There's been some criticism, though, that while this is gaining in support, in terms of a movement, there isn't a central message. Do they have a cohesive unified message at this point?

SHABAN: Yeah. When you talk to protesters, there's certainly some common ground. There's joblessness, there's concern over the economy; but I think where some of the uncertainty comes into play when you talk to protesters is just how to take their frustrations and turn it into a call to action, especially when you have some pretty powerful unions now joining the mix. But the one question that remains, Erica, is certainly whether or not they're going to take their efforts, and turn it into a political movement.

The full transcript of Bigad Shaban's report, which aired one minute into the 7 am Eastern hour of Monday's Early Show:

ERICA HILL: We do begin, though, this morning with 'Occupy Wall Street.' The protests, of course, began here in New York City. But they have now spread across the country to at least 25 major cities. And as those demonstrations grow, political leaders are now taking sides.

CBS's Bigad Shaban is outside the protest that started it all down in Manhattan's financial district with the latest for us this morning. Bigad, good morning.

BIGAD SHABAN: Good morning, Erica. We're here, just a few blocks from Wall Street. I mean, this is really the epicenter of what seems to have become a national movement, and the several hundred camped-out protesters behind me are waking up this morning to, once again, voice their frustration over the economy, over Washington, for what's now the 24th straight day.

BRIAN MULGREW, UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS (from protest): Wall Street got bailed out and we all got sold out! Let's tell the truth.

SHABAN (voice-over): The drumbeat of the 'Occupy Wall Street' protests is growing louder and wider, from the streets of New York and the nation's capital to down south-

UNIDENTIFIED MALE PROTESTER 1: This is what democracy looks like!

SHABAN: And out west. Americans are frustrated, and making their voices heard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE PROTESTER 2: Wealthy individuals who own giant corporations have bought off our Congress and bought off our government and, you know, the people no longer have a voice any more.

SHABAN: The marchers come from all walks of life, young and old, male and female, hoping their lawmakers are listening, including 38-year-old Jesse LaGreca.

JESSE LAGRECA, WALL STREET PROTESTER: I think the message is very obvious. I think that the wealthiest one percent has benefitted by just taking advantage of working class people. They've been selling us faulty financial products, they've been taking huge bonuses, while depending on societies to bail them out.

MULGREW: 99% of the people need to be prospering, not just the top one percent.

SHABAN: Michael Mulgrew is president of New York City's United Federation of Teachers.

MULGREW: Every community knows they're hurting, what's going on is wrong, and it's time to stop this and make a difference and do things that allow all people to prosper.

SHABAN: The protesters' efforts have even reached the race for president.

JASON WEISBERG, WALL STREET TRADER: I think that there's an overall paralysis in government, and people are frustrated and I get that. But, you know, it's being vented in the wrong place.

SHABAN: Michael Lewis has written extensively about the economy, and insists this protest could spark real change.

MICHAEL LEWIS, AUTHOR, "BOOMERANG: TRAVELS IN THE NEW THIRD WORLD" (from CBS's "Sunday Morning"): You can change the world, and the world changes and this is how it changes. Now, whether this is the movement that will change the world, I can't tell you, but it does seem- I think they have justice on their side.

SHABAN (on-camera): And while protest organizers acknowledge they've yet to come up with a consensus on their long-term ideas, they do agree on one thing, Erica, and that's that they're not leaving any time soon.

HILL: So they're there for the long haul, Bigad. There's been some criticism, though, that while this is gaining in support, in terms of a movement, there isn't a central message. Do they have a cohesive unified message at this point?

SHABAN: Yeah. When you talk to protesters, there's certainly some common ground. There's joblessness, there's concern over the economy; but I think where some of the uncertainty comes into play when you talk to protesters is just how to take their frustrations and turn it into a call to action, especially when you have some pretty powerful unions now joining the mix. But the one question that remains, Erica, is certainly whether or not they're going to take their efforts, and turn it into a political movement.

HILL: CBS's Bigad Shaban downtown in New York City for us- Bigad, thanks.

— Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.